MTMB
by Alice Forshadow
Summary: When Peter met Shuri, both were misunderstood, lonely teenagers who loved vines. Soon enough, they were best friends. But then came the day when Shuri would realize Peter meant much more to her than just a friend. Believe it or not, Peter did too. Rated T for angsty themes and because of the author's anxiety.
1. Before I Knew You

Chapter 1:

Sometimes, when a lot of things happen at once that get rid of one really bad thing, you forget it until everything else is over.

And everything caught up to Peter after coming back home.

But Peter was in need to talk to someone he knew about the past few months.

After finding out his Spider Man identity, Aunt May and him had the worst argument they ever had, which (to gloss over the details) ended with Aunt May storming out of his room shouting "Go ahead and get yourself killed! See if I care!" They had barely spoken in months.

School was even more of a nightmare. The girls were mad at Peter for ditching Liz at homecoming and were ignoring him rudely. To make matters worse, they stirred up rumors about him that sounded outrageous yet believable. Those who were brave enough to approach tormented him. Flash was even worse to him then ever before.

Ned was ever by his side, but he was dragged into the rumors too, making Peter feel worse. Ned had been dragged into too much because of him. So, Peter began to avoid Ned whenever he could. This caused him and Ned to get into a fight too, and now Ned was either eating alone or with MJ, who made it clear that she was on Ned's side and mad at Peter.

Peter turned on his phone and clicked his contacts.

Peter hovered over the contact, but eventually shut his phone off.

 _Mr. Stark has better things to worry about than me._

Peter never felt so upset.

 _Why can't you just stop being so selfish Peter?_

Peter was selfish.

His phone dinged, signaling a news notification. Peter glanced at it and read the headline:

WAKANADA WELCOMED BY WORLD INTO THE UNITED NATIONS

Peter tapped the headline. The page the news story was on showed a picture of the royal family. King T'Challa, nest to his mother Ramonda, girlfriend Nakia, a warrior Okoye, and sister Shuri.

Peter looked at Shuri and gave a sigh. She was a princess in a country that was so advanced no one had even thought of their technology. She was next in line to the throne. Rich. And, from the looks of it, she had friends. A great relationship with her family.

"I bet she has it so easy." replied Peter.

Across the world in Wakanda, a young princess was in her room.

* * *

Shuri stormed into her room, so hurt that she had tears in her eyes.

 _"Shuri! I'm busier now than you ever will be! Can't you understand I can't spend every day with you!"_

She had never fought with her brother like that before. She had never said what she told him.

 _"I'm still part of your life! You can't boss me around! You're not dad!"_

Shuri looked out the window.

She hadn't felt this lonely in a while. With Wakanda part of the United Nations, kingly duties, speding time with Nakia- her brother had no time anymore for her.

Shuri had no idea why she was so angry. She had braced herself for it. Her older brother was going to be busy. Not a lot of the quality time they once spent.

But she wasn't prepared for full days without even seeing her brother!

She missed him, but there wasn't even time to tell him how she felt. Her mother, being raised an only child, couldn't understand how lonely it was for Shuri to be in the lab and only be visited briefly by a guard. And Shuri was tired of the constant "Not now Shuri." every time she tried to talk to T'Challa.

That day, something inside her snapped and she couldn't take another "Not now". She had gone off at her brother for five minutes. T'Challa fired back, and Okoye looked as if she would have to intervene.

 _"Our father would be ashamed with how selfish his daughter is!"_

That's what T'Challa had shouted at her- for the first time- before storming off.

Shuri pulled out her laptop and looked up a video on Youtube. The same one she had seen many times before.

Spider Man.

Shuri had ound the video a year earlier- and the footage of Spider Man amazed her. He seemed so- happy. So free. He must have a great life.

"I bet his family understands." replied Shuri after the video ended.

Was she selfish? But- she couldn't be. She wasn't. Right?

She had never felt more conflicted, hurt, and lonely.

Little did she know in a small apartment in New York, Spider Man was in his room, feeling the same way.

 **I've been working on some writing skills recently. One of my weak skills is writing non OC fanfictions, so this multi chapter (hopefully) story (hopefully) will improve my skills. Chapter's a tad choppy, but I might go back to edit.**

 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **This is Alice Forshadow heading back down the rabbit hole!**


	2. When I Met You

**THANK YOU! Oh my gosh, we have nine favorites and eleven follows! Thank you so much!**

Chapter 2:

* * *

"Please T'Challa?" asked Shuri.

"No." T'Challa told Shuri.

The two may not have been on speaking terms, but T'Challa was going to New York for a conference about the registration act and Shuri had wanted to go since she was a little girl.

"It's not safe for you. What if something happened? You could be attacked! Or hit by a car! Or mugged!" T'Challa told her.

"I'll be safe if Okoye comes with me, right?" asked Shuri, looking to Okoye hopefully. "Besides, you never know when you're going to need an inventor in New York."

"She has a point." Okoye told T'Challa.

T'Challa gave her a 'you're supposed to be on my side' look before looking back to Shuri.

"Fine. But you're not to be out of Okoye's sight from the moment we step foot in New York." replied T'Challa.

Shuri nodded eagerly.

"Thank you." she told T'Challa.

"We leave tomorrow. Get some sleep." he replied as he walked away.

Shuri nodded eagerly and went off to her room.

* * *

The next day, Peter was doing patrol around New York on his way to the city conference building.

"Spider Man, Spider Man, does whatever a spider can, spins a web any size, catches thieves, just like flies-" Peter sang to himself as he swung from building to building. "Look out, here comes spider man."

"Nice vocals Peter." Tony's voice told him.

"GAH!" Peter exclaimed as he landed on the building, almost falling off from shock. "How long have you-"

"You come up with that yourself?" asked Tony. "I figured I'd call you, but if you're composing that anytime soon I happen to know-"

"Never mind that." replied Peter quickly. "I'm just finishing up my patrol while on my way to the conference."

Peter ducked into an alleyway where he changed out of his suit and into his clothes, then walked to the conference building, secretly humming the theme song.

* * *

Shortly after Peter made his way into the conference building, the dark clouds started to rain.

"It's a stormy day for a conference." replied Okoye to T'Challa as she made her way inside the building with Shuri as a bolt of lightning shot across the sky.

"Hopefully it's not a bad sign." replied Shuri anxiously. "Usually rainstorms mean bad news."

"I don't think so. That's just one of those superstitions dad talked about." replied T'Challa.

"I hope so." Shuri replied nervously, feeling that fearing a rainstorm after nearly being killed when her cousin tried to take over Wakanda wasn't that scary.

* * *

"So, what do you need me to do?" asked Peter to Tony.

"You're my intern. Just be backup." replied Tony. "Just stand with all the other people and listen."

"So, this is jury duty?" asked Peter

"It's practice for jury duty." Tony replied.

* * *

Shuri found herself standing with her brother and Okoye in an elevator with Tony Stark and a short, brown haired, green eyed boy in a suit who looked about her age.

She was doing a very good job holding in her excitement.

Figuring it was too quiet in the elevator, she looked over at the teenage boy.

"Hey." she responded quietly.

The boy looked over at her in shock and surprise, then quickly bowed.

"It's okay. You don't have to bow." replied Shuri. "Or address me as your highness."

"Wait, really?" asked the boy, looking at Shuri, too surprised to notice that T'Challa, Okoye, and Tony were all giving him looks. "I mean... so, to whom should I address you as?"

"Shuri." Shuri told him.

"Peter. Peter Parker." replied the boy.

"Well, Peter, it's nice to meet you." replied Shuri.

"It's nice to meet you too." replied Peter.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and off a couple of times, shaking the elevator. Okoye protectively drew her staff for a moment, then put it back after realizing it was just the storm.

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened and the hall before the conference rooms was revealed. As they started to walk out, Shuri looked at the hallways full of people and the shinging walls and floor, the beautiful fountain-

Shuri suddenly had a pang of fear and took a step back into the elevator.

That fountain reminded her of the water that her brother had been thrown into months before.

"Shuri?" Peter asked, stopping and walking back to her. "Are you okay?"

Shuri froze. She couldn't call to T'Challa, or even step out, spite the fact she was trying to urge herself to move, but her body didn't seem to want to.

The doors of the elevator shut and the elevator started to move. Peter reached for the button to open the doors-

And that was just when the power went out.


	3. Elevator

**Thank you guys for all the support!**

Chapter 3:

A few moments later, Peter and Shuri were standing in the elevator, clicking on their phones.

"I don't have any wifi!" Peter told Shuri.

Peter frantically pushed the buttons on the elevator, trying to get the door open.

"That's not working!" replied Shuri.

"Okay. Breathe." responded Peter to himself. "Let's come up with a way out of here."

The two thought for a moment.

"At least we have a great view." Peter joked, looking out the elevator. The elevator, like many of the buildings in New York, had a window on one side that showed a beautiful view of the buildings of New York.

"It is beautiful." replied Shuri.

"I bet you have more nature in Wakanda then New York." replied Peter.

"It's different then New York." replied Shuri. "But equally as beautiful."

"If you look over there, you can see the empire state building and some apartments." replied Peter, pointing to a tall building in the distance. "Then down there's the park. Over there's Queens. That's where I live with my Aunt May."

"It reminds me of my bedroom." Shuri told him. "I can look outside of the balcony and see all the trees and the animals in the forests below, and the buildings in the city above."

"I bet you have a better view than I have from my apartment." replied Peter.

"Nonsense. I bet your view looks just as amazing." replied Shuri

Then there was a shaking that felt like someone landed on the elevator.

"What was that?" asked Shuri.

Then there was a bolt of electricity that shot through the elevator. Peter's spidey sense made him feel as if he was in danger.

"Peter! Get away from the walls!" Shuri shouted as she pulled Peter from where he was against the door from the first blast. The two huddled against each other in the center of the elevator.

Then a metal arm ripped the roof of the elevator open.

"Well, look at what we have here." replied a voice of a man as he looked in. He had brown hair, his eyes were covered by dark glasses, and he wore a green suit that covered his body and gloves on his hands. "The princess of Wakanda and the intern of Tony Stark."

"Who are you?" asked Shuri.

"The man planning to start a war." replied the man as he shut the roof of the elevator.

Then there was the sound of a snap and the elevator began to fall.

Peter looked at the fear on Shuri's face, and knew what he had to do.

* * *

The meeting on the inside that had just begun was stopped when there was the sound of a bang, and then a blast coming from the hallway. The smoke alarms went off and the sprinklers activated. The congressmen and women frantically began to rush out of the room.

"SHURI!" shouted T'Challa as he ran to the area of the blast, knowing exactly where it came from.

"Kid! Pick up! Are you okay! Peter! Answer me!" shouted Tony into his watch frantically.

Nothing happened.

Tony ran into the hallway and saw where T'Challa was looking.

The elevator doors had been blown apart, scattering the hallway with metal. Smoke poured out of the blast site, followed by sparks.

T'Challa swallowed, tears filing his eyes. Okoye ran over and had her hands over her mouth in silent agony.

"No, no, no, no!" Tony shouted, running to the shaft. "Parker! Peter! Peter! Please!"

"We need to go." replied a security guard.

"My sister!" shouted T'Challa. "My sister was in that elevator!"

"Mr. Stark, we need to get you and the king to safety. There's been an attack." replied a second guard.

Tony felt himself numbly being led away from the wreckage by a guard in disbelief as T'Challa was led away as well, feeling the same emotions as Tony was.

* * *

Several seconds before:

Peter activated his suit without a moment's hesitation.

He took a glance over at where Shuri was looking in a mix of fear and shock.

Looking up at where the roof of the elevator was ripped open, Peter webbed the top of the roof which was loose and pulled it to the side, opening it. Then, grabbing ahold of Shuri, shot a web upwards that attached to the top of the elevator shaft.

"Alright. This might be risky but we don't have another choice!" Peter shouted as he grabbed ahold of Shuri and, clutching the web in one hand and Shuri grabbing ahold of his other arm, he pulled them out of the elevator with a quick tug that sent them up several inches and out of the elevator.

Shuri looked down below as the elevator plummeted at the bottom of the shaft and crashed.

"You okay?" asked Peter. Shuri nodded.

Then Peter's spidey sense happened again.

"Peter!" Shuri shouted.

Peter looked over to see a small bomb attached to the door of the elevator set to go off any moment.

Shuri looked out the window.

And then Peter got another risky idea.

* * *

As the others evacuated outside, Tony looking up.

"C'mon Peter. You can find a way out." he told the sky.

And then, from the very top of the building, there was a small blur of red climbing down the building.

* * *

Several seconds earlier.

Peter was pretty sure he was bleeding as he made his way down the wall, Shuri holding onto him.

"Suit at critical damage." Friday told him. "Seek medical assistance."

"Are you okay?" asked Shuri.

"Tis merely a flesh wound princess." Peter joked.

Shuri laughed. Then she looked up at him.

"Shuri, please don't-" Peter began.

"I won't." promised Shuri.

Then, before either of them knew it, they were on the ground. Peter and Shuri let each other go as the crowd cheered.

"Yeah! Go Spider Man!" shouted a voice from the crowd.

Shuri ran over to T'Challa and hugged him. T'Challa looked at Peter.

"Thank you Spider Man." T'Challa told Peter.

Peter nodded as he walked to the alley.

* * *

"You smashed through a window just in time." replied Tony as he surveyed the cuts in Peter's suit.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark." Peter told him.

After the rescue, Peter was helped back to Avengers compound to get checked out. Although the suit was strong, it hadn't been strong enough to prevent all the glass from smashing through his back. He needed stiches in certain areas of his back, which was now wrapped in gause bandages.

"It's alright." replied Tony. "You did a brave thing. Who knows what would have happened if Shuri was in that elevator and you weren't there-"

"She saw me in the suit." Peter interrupted.

"I had a feeling." Tony told him. "I'm not mad Peter."

"You aren't?" Peter asked.

"There was no way you could have put the suit on privately." replied Tony. "And because of that quick thinking in a stressful situation. you saved a life. And maybe more."

The doors of the lab opened and Pepper, followed by a hysterical Aunt May, came in the room.

"Peter! Oh thank goodness! I heard it all over the news! Are you hurt?" asked Aunt May, running over to Peter and hugging him.

"I'm alright Aunt May." Peter told her.

As relived as the two were, and how the beginning of a friendship formed, Peter's simple mistake that saved a life would soon endanger more people then he thought.


	4. Changes

Chapter 4:

"That was wreck less Peter. You're lucky you got out of that alive." replied Tony to Peter once Aunt May had left to get some water for her and Peter. "I don't want any word of Spider Man doing patrols until you healed."

"I didn't know what else to do." replied Peter. "There didn't seem like another way out."

Tony gave a sigh, knowing Peter was right and not knowing what to say about it.

"At least you're safe." replied Tony.

Tony usually expected Peter to make a joke about his injury to lighten the mood. Today, however, he was silent. He almost seemed to be thinking on something too.

"Is everything alright kid?" Tony asked.

"Yeah Mr. Stark." replied Peter.

"Is that a lie?" asked Tony, giving Peter a hard 'I know when you're lying so don't even start' look.

Peter sighed.

 _If the princess of Wakanda can be open to a total stranger, than I can be open to someone I've known for years._

"I- guess not." replied Peter. "Things haven't been great since homecoming."

And Peter spent the next ten minutes telling Tony everything. The bullying, the ignoring, the arguments, the cold shoulders, the guilt- everything that had happened for the past five months.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Tony.

"I didn't want to bother you." replied Peter. "I figured you had better things to do... and that you wouldn't understand."

"Better things?" asked Tony. "Peter, you are one of my best things. If you're having a problem, you come to me, got it?"

Peter nodded.

"And I wasn't a very popular kid in school either." replied Tony.

Pepper cleared her throat.

"Okay, I was pretty popular in school." replied Tony. "And even though I had it easy for a while... I've had my dark points. I've ruined relationships. Probably in even worse ways than you did."

Pepper made a cough that sounded like "2010" before walking to her office.

"I'm going to regret that." replied Tony. "Back to the point, the best thing you can do is to genuinely show you're sorry. Apologize. And if they forgive you- then they're good friends."

"What about Aunt May?" asked Peter.

"Aunt May cares about you as much as you care about your friends." replied Tony. "You got into the argument with Ned because you don't want him getting hurt. Aunt May probably felt the same thing about you. You're her last living family member whom she's raised practically since you where a baby. She doesn't want to lose you. And even though she's mad at you... she cares."

Peter felt guilty. He was mad at Aunt May- for doing the exact same thing he had done to her friends.

"As for the other kids, just brush it off." replied Tony. "We all have to deal with jerks. They'll forget about it by the time you come back. And trust me, it's always the ones who never dated anyone in high school that come out on top as the wealthy inventors who get twice as many girls in the future."

Peter looked confused.

"Okay, point is, you're going to be alright." replied Tony. "And come to talk to me the next time you have a problem. I don't want this to eat away at you again."

Peter nodded and gave Tony a sudden hug.

"Thank you." he responded.

Tony, caught off guard, hugged Peter back as gently as he could without accidentally touching where his wounds were healing.

"What did you do in 2010 Mr. Stark?" asked Peter.

"I'll tell you when you're older." replied Tony.

* * *

Aunt May came back in with some water bottles as Peter and Tony broke from their hug. Peter looked at Aunt May.

"May- I'm so sorry." replied Peter.

Aunt May looked at Peter, took a deep breath, and sat next to him.

"Peter, I have raised you ever since you were practically a newborn." replied May. "You're not my nephew. You're my son. And when I found out you were the Spider Man risking your life every other day, I thought of all the times you could have died. And I wouldn't know because I wasn't there."

She paused as a few tears filled her eyes.

"If being a superhero is what you want to do... then I won't stop you." replied May. "My mother tried to do that to me, and that's the last thing I want to do to you. So long as you come home safe, that's enough for me."

Peter hugged his aunt, trying to hold back tears.

* * *

"Hey, Peter!"

Peter looked over to see Ned walking up to him.

"Are you okay? I saw what happened on the news-" replied Ned. Then he realized something. "It looks like Spider Man got really hurt."

"Yeah. He probably just got a couple stiches and broke a rib. I bet he's fine." replied Peter.

There was an awkward silence.

"What happened at the meeting is why I didn't want you involved." replied Peter.

"You mean you totally defeating that villain and saving the princess of Wakanda from an elevator crash?" asked Ned.

"To some extent." replied Peter. "It's not about that part- it's about this part."

Ned looked at where some of the bandages where covering Peter's shoulder.

"You keep getting hurt because of this." replied Peter. "Sure, for now it's juts emotional. What if it escalates?"

"So? I can handle some bullying." replied Ned. "And do you think I had ladies begging to ask me out before this?"

"I mean you could get hurt physically." replied Peter, getting steadily more infuriated. "I mean you could be kidnapped, killed, hurt, tortured, or worse!"

"Do you think I care?" asked Ned.

"You should!" Peter responded. "You think I want my best friend to die because of me?"

At this point, several lingering students where staring at Peter.

"Um- it's a play." replied Ned. "We're rehearsing for a play."

The students gave them weird looks as they walked to class.

"What I meant was that I'm helping you do some good in the world." replied Ned. "And not only that, I'm helping my best friend. What could be better than that? I'm ready to get hurt. You think I'm going to ditch you because of fear of getting hurt?"

Peter sighed.

"What if I took some defense classes?" asked Ned. "If I could defend myself, would that make you feel better?"

Peter thought back on what May said.

"No." replied Peter. "But if you want to work with me on this, then I'm not going to stop you. I'm also sorry for what I said."

"I was being stubborn too." replied Ned.

Peter held out his hand.

"Friends again?" asked Peter.

"You bet." replied Ned.

* * *

Michelle and her friend Gwen looked on.

"I'm glad they made up." replied Gwen, walking away.

Michelle smirked.

"Good work Spider Man."

 **Over 1,000 words. Longest chapter so far, written in a few hours in one sitting.**

 **It's been a while, huh? Haven't worked on this since Christmas.**

 **I figured that before the meme buddies begins, I'd include some filler on what happened. Next chapter will focus on Shuri, and then we'll get into the friendship and memes.**

 **I'm hoping to wrap in the movie verse (IW, Endgame, and Far From Home will be included), but also have my own ideas involved.**

 **I also want to give a thanks to the readers. I've never had a story blow up this fast. Three chapters, over 800 reads, 23 favorites, 31 followers. One of my most popular stories to date. Thank you for all your support, encouragement, and patience!**


	5. Like You Were For Me

Chapter 5:

Shuri stared at the bathtub while sitting on the floor in her clothes. It had been an hour before, and she would have been done and sitting in bed, reading or watching a video. More recently, however, she had found it so... terrifying.

It was the faucet. It sounded like rushing water.

It sounded like the river.

That's what she hadn't told T'Challa. The fact that she was scared of running water. The fact that she almost died today was because she was scared of a water fountain. It was everything: the sight, the feeling of droplets splattering against her, the sound, the noise- that recalled the worst day of her life.

At first, Shuri tried to shrug it off. Then she got to the point where just running the water to brush her teeth felt like torture or made her scared.

It wasn't just that. She was barely getting any sleep. Every night were nightmares. Seeing her brother being thrown, mortally wounded into the river while her cousin stood triumphant. She woke up in a cold sweat, holding back a scream. They happened at least twice a night- most of the time more. During the day, her anxiety around situations took away her appetite and made her feel sick.

Maybe this was why she hated T'Challa spending all his time away from her.

She couldn't be around to keep him safe.

She walked out of the bathroom, still in her clothes, and sat down on her bed.

Then she remembered something- or someone.

* * *

Two weeks earlier, before Doctor Octopus showed up, Peter asked her a question.

"Can I have your phone number?" he asked.

Shuri was puzzled and slightly caught off guard.

"Look, I know this seems awkward giving the circumstances, and I don't even know if you have a phone, and I think we should stay in contact for... mission purposes. Just in case." replied Peter (this was a blatant lie) "If it's no, that's okay-"

"Sure." replied Shuri.

Peter gave her his phone number, and then pulled out his phone to get hers.

"Oh no." he responded, looking at his phone. "The battery died."

Shuri pulled out a marker from her pocket.

"Here. Give me your arm." she responded.

Peter held out his arm, rolling up a sleeve of his tuxedo. Shuri wrote her number on his arm.

"There you go." replied Shuri.

* * *

Shuri hadn't thought of calling Peter. Of course, they called each other after the event for a few days in brief, five minute calls to check up on each other, and then gradually stopped.

Shuri looked at the contact. Peter Parker.

Then she pressed the call button.

* * *

It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon. Peter was back from patrols and trying to work on his homework when he got the phone call. He looked at the contact calling and almost dropped his phone.

Shuri. The girl he hadn't talked to in a week. The princess of Wakanda.

He picked the phone up, his hand slightly shaking.

"Hi Shuri." he responded more high pitched then he recalled.

"Peter?" asked Shuri. "I know we don't know each other well... and I just wanted to talk to you. I figured because you're a hero and I'm a hero- in a way- you could relate to me."

Peter put his pencil down.

"Sure." he responded. "Is everything-"

"I'm afraid Peter." replied Shuri. "Of water."

There was a pause.

"It's alright. A lot of people have fears like that." replied Peter. "I'm scared of spiders, ironically."

"I didn't use to be afraid." replied Shuri. "It started last year. When my brother almost died."

Peter felt like the world slowed down.

"He was challenged for the throne by a cousin who was horrible and wicked. I just remember my whole world felt like it froze, watching as my brother was being defeated by this horrible oppressor. I felt so numb. Like someone had just frozen my whole body, just watching. I wanted to jump into the battle and take him down. I wanted to stop him. I didn't care if I died, or was exiled, I just wanted it to stop. And I couldn't even will myself to take a step." Shuri told him.

Ben. All Peter could think about was Ben. How he had froze when he saw him there.

"The challenge took place overlooking a river, high above the ground. And when my brother lost, he was gravely injured. He was bruised... bloody... I was close to crying. I thought my cousin would let him go." replied Shuri. "He did not show mercy. He threw my brother into the water in front of me... my mother... everyone. And then everything went from numbness to everything hurting. I barely remember how I even got down... I was crying so hard, every moment I ever spent with my brother was running through my mind, I could barely think, I was surprised I could function. I was surprised I didn't dive into the water after him. I felt so much guilt. That..."

"It wasn't your fault Shuri." replied Peter, feeling a tear run down his cheek. "It wasn't. It was your cousin's."

"I knew something was wrong with him from the beginning." replied Shuri, her voice filling with tears. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. And I didn't object. I didn't try to stop him. I didn't say anything. I could have sent him away. I could have gotten him thrown in prison at least. My brother could have died. And it would have been my fault."

The phone went quiet. Peter thought she hung up, only to hear muffled sobbing.

Suddenly all the memories of Ben flooded back to him.

He wasn't going to tell her it wasn't her fault. She didn't want to hear that. Her fear was based on this guilt... a guilt that she may truly never get over.

He knew full enough what it felt like.

"I'm so sorry." replied Peter. "Shuri... even if you had alerted your brother about your feelings, or even if your cousin was imprisoned... the situation may have still played out. Maybe not the same way. Maybe worse. But we won't know. And what happened in the past... is in the past. You can't change it."

There was more silence.

"And you can't live off of guilt." replied Peter. "Trust me... I've tried."

There was a pause.

"You're right." replied Shuri. "I... have to let this go. It's just harder than I realized."

"It's never easy." replied Peter. "That doesn't mean it's impossible."

"Thank you." replied Shuri. "This means much more than you think."

"You're welcome." replied Peter.

"I have to go. It's getting late, and my mother gets bad tempered towards me if I stay up too late." replied Shuri. "Thank you Peter."

"Talk to you later Shuri." replied Peter.

There was a pause, and a beep that indicated Shuri had hung up. Peter looked back to his math homework, trying to focus.

His gaze kept looking up at the photo of Uncle Ben on his shelf.

 _It's your fault Peter._

Peter gripped his pencil tighter.

"Please stop." he whispered.

The voice backed off. Peter looked at the picture and turned it back around, wiping the tears filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ben." he told the picture. "I'm so sorry."

Even after all this time, it was Peter's fault.

 **I'm not big on info dumping- or more or less, having a character reveal her backstory all at once to a character. However, I felt that the trauma both Peter and Shuri faced has a lot to do with this story.**

 **Don't worry, next chapter will be more fluffy and lighthearted. I just have to shovel some angst out of the way first.**


End file.
